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This time Barry Manilow didn’t let the rain get him down.
Unlike the success of the 1980 Grammy-winning record artist “I Made It Through Rain,” the superstar-laden “Return Concert” in New York’s Central Park was canceled due to weather dangerous when tropical storm Henri approached the northeast on Saturday.
Manilow began performing “Can’t Smile Without You” as part of a fight over his hits when an ad interrupted his performance, ordering concertgoers to leave the park immediately and seek refuge.
The singer continued, not realizing at the beginning of what was happening. Organizers repeated a loudspeaker for those attending the concert to “pass quietly to the nearest exits and proceed to areas outside the park.”
The five-hour concert, intended to celebrate New York City’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, was about half the time when the weather became a problem. Rain and heavy lightning filled the sky.
As the crowd, estimated at more than 60,000 people, began to leave the concert area, there was a moment of optimism so that the show could resume once the weather was clear. But a few minutes later, another announcement said it would be canceled as the downpour intensified.
Afterwards, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted: “While it’s disappointing that tonight’s concert has to end early, the safety of all attendees must come first.”
The highly promoted mega-concert featured Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Paul Simon, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, LL Cool J and Andrea Bocelli among the performers.
Fans intending to see Springsteen, Simon and The Killers, who had not yet arrived on stage, expressed their disappointment as they left. A belligerent screaming man could be heard paying to see Springsteen. Most tickets to the show were delivered for free, as long as you could prove the vaccination. But high-cost VIP tickets ranging from $ 399 to $ 5,000 were also sold. It was not yet known if there would be returns.
Although the headliners were unable to perform, the abruptly finished show still offered some outstanding performances.
Jennifer Hudson, backed by the New York Philharmonic, performed a version of “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s opera “Turandot.” Equally impressive was that his performance followed the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Hudson then told station Gayle King that the performance felt like “an out-of-body experience.”
The famous New York Philharmonic opened the show with many New York-themed pieces, including George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” Leonard Bernstein’s “New York, New York,” and Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind.” . The orchestra also supported Bocelli.
Earth, Wind & Fire joined Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds for a set of two songs. And Santana with Wyclef Jean performed “Maria Maria” before Rob Thomas played “Smooth” and his new collaboration, “Move.”
The eclectic lineup also featured some “old school” hip hop, with Melle Mel dusting off the Grandmaster Flash classic “The Message.” Busta Rhymes performed “Put your hands where my eyes could see.”
In one of the liveliest performances of the night, a group of backup singers sang the iconic opening of “Mama Said Knock You Out” as a lively LL Cool J wearing mint green sweats and yellow stitches that came up with an exciting version of the song that sent the crowd to a hypermotor. He was then joined by the Rev. Run of Run DMC for an excerpt from “It’s Tricky.”
Special speakers included Stephen Colbert, Gayle King, Clive Davis and New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
Schumer praised New York City’s resistance to returning after difficult times, citing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Sandy Superstorm, the financial crisis, and now Covid-19.
“After Covid, New York is bigger, better and stronger than before,” he told the crowd.
He then thanked the front-line workers, saying the city was coming back because of them.
Organized in early summer, the concert was intended to celebrate New York City to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. But on Saturday, the concert kicked off amid concerns over the highly contagious delta variant of the virus.
According to state statistics, New York City over the past week has averaged just under 2,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day. That’s just under 200 cases a day in late June. Only about 54% of all city residents are completely vaccinated against the virus.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)